Playing as Learning, Exploring and Creating

Playing as Learning, Exploring and Creating

Young children learn  important skills such as sharing, getting along with others and following rules when they play. Through play they also begin to explore the world beyond their home.

You should encourage play with other children. Plan a play date with a neighbour child or a friend from day care. Play helps preschoolers develop their imagination and creativity. They love to play pretend games, and to dress-up. They also have fun with exploring different colours, shapes and materials. To support your child’s creative play:

  • encourage her to draw pictures by providing different drawing materials, for example:
    • coloured pencils, crayons, markers, chalk or pastels
    • and paper of different sizes and textures or scrap paper
  • take time to draw or paint with him
  • make play dough together out of flour, salt, water, oil and paint and use rollers and cookie cutters to create different shapes
  • encourage imaginative play with dolls, puppets and stuffed animals
  • keep your old clothes and accessories for a dress-up game
  • include simple rhythmic music as part of play

Make sure that your child is physically active about three hours throughout the day. This helps her:

  • master new skills such as running, leaping and jumping
  • develop better coordination and muscle
  • have a healthy body weight
  • learn about nature when playing outdoors

SOURCE: www.children.gov.on.ca

Build Your Best Day, Participaction

Learn about the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (aged 5-17) the fun way with this interactive experience. Visit the website for resources to help teach kids how to make every day the best day.

Spring Activities

  • Dig for worms
  • Go for a walk in the rain
  • Go for a flower walk – find different kinds
  • Plant a garden
  • Puddle jumping
  • Fly a kite

Summer Activities

  • Tag
  • Potato sack racing
  • Hopscotch
  • Water play (e.g., set up a sprinkler, hose, pool, sponges, turkey basters, watering cans or pails)
  • Washing cars and large play equipment
  • Spray art (using water bottles and coloured water to spray on the sidewalk or asphalt)
  • Basketball
  • Hockey
  • Swimming
  • Horseback riding
  • Rope jumping
  • Catch butterflies with a net

Fall Activities

  • Charades (e.g., pretend to blow leaves, pretend to be birds flying south)
  • Red light, green light
  • What time is it Mister wolf?
  • Raking leaves
  • Jump in the leaves
  • Collect leaves
  • Make a collage with them
  • Place leaves in a box. Have children place their feet (without shoes or socks) into the box and step or jump on the leaves
  • Hide some objects in a pile of leaves and have the children find them
  • Apple picking
  • Fall clean-up (pick up garbage around the yard)
  • Make leaf person (like snow angel/person, but in a pile of leaves)
  • Visit a pumpkin farm

Winter Activities

  • Skating
  • Skiing
  • Build a snowman
  • Make a snow angel
  • Shovel snow
  • Go tobogganing
  • Colour the snow
  • Follow foot prints in the snow
  • Build a snow-fort
  • Toss a snowball

SOURCE : Region of Peel

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